challenges to nation building in defense of the … · kerala. 883 cases of atrocities between june...
TRANSCRIPT
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stMission Sunday, 21 October 2018
St Pius College Auditorium,
Aarey Road, Goregaon East, Mumbai 400 063
THE BOMBAY ARCHDIOCESAN COMMISSION FOR INTER-RELIGIOUS DIALOGUE
Organizes
THE BIRD ALUMNI DAY OPEN CONFERENCE
CHALLENGES TO
NATION BUILDING
IN DEFENSE
OF THE CONSTITUTION
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SPEAKERS
Fr. (Dr.) S. M. Michael SVD,Director, Archdiocesan Commission for Inter Religious Dialogue,
and Institute of Indian Culture, Andheri
Prof. (Ms) Abhinaya Kamble,Professor of Political Science, K. J. Somaiya College of Arts
and Commmerce, Vidhyavihar
Dr. Nikhat NoumaanPh.D. in Islamic Studies and Visiting Faculty at
Mumbai University
Dr. Ram PuniyaniProfessor, Researcher and Activist involved in secular
and democratic initiatives
Anchor : Mr. Dolphy D'Souza
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e are celebrating 150 years of the
birth of Mahatma Gandhi, the WFather of our nation. The world observes October 2, the birthday of Gandhi as
the International Day of Non-violence.
Gandhi was a great social, spiritual and
political leader. He infused ethics in politics
on a big scale. To him, means are as important
as the end. During this year it is important to
reflect on how we can preserve his legacy. A
befitting tribute that we the people can pay to ththe Father of Nation on his 150 birth
anniversary, is to pledge ourselves to follow
his footsteps, to uphold truth and non-
violence, as the guiding principles in our
public life, and shun hatred and bloodshed.
But what we see today is that Dalits, tribals,
backward castes and other marginalized and
suppressed communities are in search of a
nation inspired by egalitarian values, social
just ice , economic opportunit ies and
participation in political decision making; the
Hindutva ideologues, on the other hand, are
equally strong in trying to retain control of
their present privileges and dominance by
insisting on ancient hierarchical Brahmanic
Hindu cultural values. Thus, culture and
nationalism in India has become polarized by
the contrasting interests of the upper and
lower groups, the former vigorously clinging
to their traditional status, and the latter
fighting for justice, equality and human
dignity.
The recent happenings in India disturb all of
us. The vision of India of Mahatma Gandhi
and our Founding Fathers as a secular and
pluralistic society envisioned in our
CHALLENGES TO NATION BUILDINGIN DEFENSE OF THE CONSTITUTION
Conference Concept
Constitution is being shattered. Cow
vigilantism, love-jihad, lynching mob culture,
polarization of people on caste and religious
lines, majoritarianism and feeling of insecurity
among the minorities –all are in direct conflict
with the Constitutional vision of India. Today,
there is apowerful move to unify India in terms
of Hindu Rashtra (Nation). The loyalty of the
Muslims and Christians is still questioned by
certain section of the society, leading to
communal tension and riots. The impression
has been created that upper and middle caste
Hindus are the true patriots, whereas others
are not. Steps are being taken to rewrite history
to suit the above agenda. The education system
is being revamped to influence young minds to
accept the Hindutva ideology.
The majority community, with a misconceived
notion of being threatened by minorities, has
become intolerant, and a mute spectator to the
atrocities and violence committed against the
vulnerable and the oppressed. Any political
disagreement is dubbed as anti-national and
anti-patriotic by the extreme right wing
elements, who have become a law unto
themselves. Dissent- “a symbol of vibrant
democracy”- is sought to be crushed. Freedom
has become a license. And democracy has
degenerated into mobocracy.
This is not the India of Mahatma Gandhi.
Indian nationalism should give dignity to all
Indians and make them wanted and respected
citizens. That indeed is the vision of India in its
Constitution!
Fr. S.M. Michael SVD, Director,
Commission for IRD
3CHALLENGES TO NATION BUILDING IN DEFENSE OF THE CONSTITUTION
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CASE STUDY 1Lynching in the name of Cow Protection
n June 22, 2017,
Otowards the end of
Ramadan, two young Muslim
brothers on a visit to Delhi to buy
new clothes for Eid boarded a train to return
home, three hours away. Soon, they became
embroiled in a disagreement over seating
with fellow passengers, which escalated into
an argument over their religion. The other
passengers taunted the boys, calling them
“beef-eaters,” and pulling at their beards,
one of the brothers later said. Eventually, the
knives came out. By the time the train had
passed the boys' village, the assault was
underway. Fifteen-year-old Junaid Khan
was thrown out of the carriage one station
past the boys' stop; he had been stabbed
multiple times, and was later declared dead
at Civil Hospital in Palwal.
Within days, thousands were flooding the
streets of India's cities in protests sparked by
Junaid's murder, led by Indians aghast at an
ever-lengthening list of violent crimes
committed by Hindu mobs. Lynching is an
old crime here, often committed against
those of so-called lower castes and
marginalized tribes, in order to reinforce
brutal social hierarchies. But dozens of news
reports over the last two years indicate a
dramatic rise in a specific kind of mob
murder: the so-called “beef lynchings” of
Muslims.
4 CHALLENGES TO NATION BUILDING IN DEFENSE OF THE CONSTITUTION
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he struggle for land recognition is
still on with tribals denied rights to Town and cultivate even ancestral lands.
CASE STUDY 2Land grab forcing Madhya Pradesh tribals to migrate
In January this year the Madhya Pradesh
government conferred habitat rights upon
the Baigas, a primitive tribe, to right the
wrong meted out to them for centuries.
When it comes to land rights, many tribals in
Madhya Pradesh got it years ago. But they
failed to get real ownership as they are not
allowed to cultivate their own lands. The
struggle for land recognition is still on with
tribals denied rights to own and cultivate
even ancestral lands.
5CHALLENGES TO NATION BUILDING IN DEFENSE OF THE CONSTITUTION
In Chhatarpur district's Nandora village,
Rama Kaundar failed to get control over the
piece of land he owned in his lifetime. The
deceased's wife, Shahodara Kaundar, told
Down To Earth that members of the Patel
Community had grabbed her late husband's
land. Her pleas have fallen on deaf ears.
When Shahodara approached the patwari,
she was told that the piece of land came
under the forest land category.
Shahodara's case is not the only instance of
land grabbing by powerful upper classes
and even by the forest department. In every
district across the length and breadth of
Madhya Pradesh, one can find at least 10 to
15 tribes whose lands have been captured.
The forest department also acts as the enemy
of the tribals by denying them the right to
cultivate their lands. In Panna district's
Dhauguan village, Bhaia Lal (55) owns five
acres of ancestral land, but the forest
department does not let him carry out
cultivation. According to Lal, the forest
department has taken lands belonging to at
least 50 to 60 villagers.
Denied land rights, tribals are either
migrating to other places in search of jobs or
are becoming daily wage labourers. During
drought, searching for work is a huge
problem, many admit. Over 20 lakh people
living in forest areas for generations have
been deprived of their ancestral lands.
- Kundan Pandey
Wednesday 03 August 2016
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crime is committed against Dalits
every 15 minutes in India. And six ADalit women are raped every day, according to official statistics that register a
66% hike in atrocities in the past ten years
2007-2017. The situation has worsened, with
a further spike in anti-Dalit violence, over
the past four years.
The timeline for 2017 till date is a matter of
shame for democratic India that has still not
come to terms with its repressive caste
system:
May 5- Mass attack on Dalits in Shabbipur
village, Saharanpur. 1 person killed and 15
people injured in clashes between Dalits and
upper caste Thakurs.
May 7- Dalit groom allegedly beaten up for
"daring" to take a decorated car to his
wedding venue, in Chhatarpur District,
Madhya Pradesh. The groom and 6 others of
the wedding party were thrashed.
May 2017- People belonging to Scheduled
Castes in Uttar Pradesh's Kushinagar
District given soap and shampoo by the local
CASE STUDY 3Crime against Dalits
administration to clean themselves ahead of
a visit by CM Yogi Adityanath.
July 3 2017- 31 Dalit activists who had called
a press conference in Lucknow to talk about
past atrocities against Dalits arrested- as
they had planned to march later towards
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi
Adityanath's house - which then did not
have permission for.
July 3 - Maharashtra's Marathwada district-
Dalits denied dignity even in death - no
place given for cremation and burial
grounds- on account of failure of the state
government.
July 3 – A report by National Commision for
Scheduled Castes reported that atrocities
against Dalits have been on the rise in
Kerala. 883 cases of atrocities between June
2016 and April 2017
September 25 - PiyushParmar, 25 years old,
allegedly thrashed by the members of the
Rajput community - Gujarat
September 29- KrunalMagheria, 30 years
old, thrashed for sporting a moustache in a
Gujarat village.
September 30- 5 Dalits assaulted in a Vijaya
Dashami procession in Belur Taluk,
Karnataka
October 1- 21 year old Dalit man allegedly
beaten to death by a group of men belonging
to the upper caste Patel community for
attending a garba event
October 3 : 17-year-old Dighant Magheria
attacked by two bike borne men in a Gujarat
village who slashed his back with a blade.
6 CHALLENGES TO NATION BUILDING IN DEFENSE OF THE CONSTITUTION
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CASE STUDY 4Control over Right to Dissent
In this file photo, Mumbai Policemen accompany the Dalits
protestors as they stage a protest against the violence in
Bhima Koregaon area of Pune in Mumbai.
(Photo | PTI) Published: 06th June 2018
ive suspected Maoist activists were
arrested by the Pune police from FMumbai, Nagpur and Delhi on 6th June 2018, under the Unlawful Activities
(Prevention) Act (UAPA), in connection with
the January 1 Bhima-Koregaon riots.
While the People's Union for Civil Liberties
(PUCL) condemned the arrests, Dalit
activists raised questions on why police is
avo id ing ar res t o f Hindutva i con
SambhajiBhide in the case.
The suspected members of the banned
Communist Party of India (CPI-Maoist)
were arrested in simultaneous raids
conducted across Mumbai, Nagpur and
Delhi. The raids started early in the morning
at around 6 am, while in some cases the
arrests were delayed till post noon due to
7CHALLENGES TO NATION BUILDING IN DEFENSE OF THE CONSTITUTION
procedural delays.
Those arrested include
Rona Wilson from Delhi,
AdvSurendraGadl ing,
Mahesh Raut and Prof
Shoma Sen from Nagpur
and SudhirDhawale from
Mumbai. All of them had
participated, some as
o r g a n i z e r s , i n t h e
“ElgaarParishad” that was
held at Shaniwar Wada in Pune on December
31, 2017, a day prior to the Bhima-Koregaon
riots.
All of them have been booked under the
Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act
(UAPA) and transit remands have been
sought. They will be brought to Pune by
tonight and after thorough investigation
senior police officials would hold a press
conference on Thursday to share more
information, sources have said.
These arrests were made after police
establish money trail between Naxals and
their sympathizers and organizers of the
Elgar Parishad. Searches were conducted
against some of those arrested today like
Dhawale. Evidences were collected from
those raids, police said. Their interrogation
will now help the police join missing links
and build a strong case, a senior official told
the New Indian Express on condition of
Five suspected Maoists arrested under UAPA in Bhima-Koregaon riots case
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Shiv Pratishthan supporters take part in a rally demanding
the removal of all allegations against Sambhaji Bhide in
Bhima.
Terming the arrested persons as “top urban
Maoist operatives”, a police officer said that
they are close to breaking down the urban
design of the Maoists and the arrests is a step
closer to the goal.
Adv. Surendra Gadling is general secretary
of Indian Association of People's Lawyers
and generally known in Nagpur as Maoists'
lawyer for he has been providing legal aid to
those arrested for Maoist links, including
activists of Kabir Kala Manch in Pune, Prof
Saibaba and Dhawale. He is a tribal and Dalit
rights activist.
Shoma Sena is a professor of English
literature at Nagpur University and had
been under the police scanner for alleged
links with the left wing extremists.
Mahesh Raut, a former Prime Minister Rural
Development (PMRD) Fellow, is alleged to
be the link between jungle operatives and
8 CHALLENGES TO NATION BUILDING IN DEFENSE OF THE CONSTITUTION
urban out f i t s o f the
Maoists. He has been
ac t ive in the Maois t
affected Gadchiroli district
for last few years. In April
2014, when Raut was a
PMRD fellow, he was
d e t a i n e d b y t h e
Gadhchiroli police with
his aide HarshaliPotdar,
after two arrested Maoists
revealed that the duo was
supposed to accompany
them to meet senior Maoist
leaders in jungles.
Potdar along with other Dalit activists
staged protests at the Deonar Police station
in Mumbai where Dhavle was brought after
arrest. They demanded arrest of Sambhaji
Bhide, of Shiv Pratishthan, Hindustan, a
Sangli based Hindu organization for inciting
riots at Bhima Koragaon.
PUCL Maharashtra convener Adv. Mihir
Desai condemned the arrests.
“These arrest amounts to blatant violation of
citizen's rights to freedom of expression and
voicing dissent, and is clearly a move to target
individuals working for rights of the
marginalized sections of society, and to produce a
chilling effect on voices of dissent,” Desai said in
a statement released here. This appears to be a
planned attack on people who have been
protesting against injustice and atrocities
perpetuated by various State and non-State
Hindu right-wing groups, he added.
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9CHALLENGES TO NATION BUILDING IN DEFENSE OF THE CONSTITUTION
Indian Christians faced almost as many
attacks in first half of 2017 as all of 2016
August 8, 2017 By World Watch Monitor
CASE STUDY 5Violence against Christians
This pregnant women and her five children were thrown out of
their village by her husband and in-laws after she refused to
renounce her Christian faith. She is now living with her brother
in another village (World Watch Monitor, 2017)
In the first six months of 2017, Indian
Christians were harassed, threatened or
attacked for their faith in 410 reported
incidents (248 in the first quarter) – almost as
many as the total for the whole of 2016 (441).
This is according to figures compiled by
partners of Open Doors, the global charity
which monitors the treatment of Christians
worldwide to produce an annual World
Watch List of the 50 most difficult countries
for them to live in. Last year, India was at its
highest ever on the List – at no. 15; it looks set
to rise higher in 2018 if present trends
continue.
In January, April, May and June the number
of incidents this year were more than double
that of 2016.
In February and March the number is nearly
double that of 2016.
There were two killings in the first half of
2017.
Eighty-four incidents were of violent assault
(by Hindu extremists in 99% of cases): most
beatings were severe.
In 32 of them, Christians would have died if
timely medical-aid had not been provided.
A local partner told Open Doors, “When
Christians are beaten up by extremists, they
are injured mostly on their heads or vital
body parts. There was one incident earlier
this year when the victim was attacked by a
sword to his head. He was bleeding
profusely and was critically injured…
Attackers do not care if the person dies. They
know they will not be punished because the
Government (and hence the judiciary) will
take their side. In most cases attackers go
unpunished.”
In 37 incidents, victims were socially
boycotted, or threatened with it, by Hindu
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villagers if they didn't change their religion
back to Hinduism.
In a further 34 incidents, victims were forced
to leave their homes since they didn't want to
leave Christianity. (In 14 of these, victims
had to completely leave their village or city.)
The number of incidents against Christians
in the six-most-populous Indian states has
also been recorded.
The increase in persecution incidents in
India has never been at such a great rate, say
analysts.
In Maharashtra, which last week passed a
bill to criminalise social exclusion based on
religion, caste or race, 80 incidents against
Christians were recorded (32 last year).
In Chhattisgarh, one of five states to have an
'anti-conversion' law, 122 incidents were
recorded (72 last year).
'Hinduisation'
Although the current ruling party talks
about secularism and unity, the background
reality is that it is a centre-right party built as
the political wing of the RSS (Rashtriya
Swayam sevak Sangh). RSS, a Hindu
nationalist organisation, is widespread and
openly upholds Hindu values and a
conservative agenda.
So India is in a process of “Hinduisation”,
born from the “Hindutva” ideology
( l i t e r a l l y : “ H i n d u p r i n c i p l e s ” ) o f
nationalism, which holds that the Indian
nation can be a cohesive and aspiring force
only if the tenets of one religion, one culture,
and one nation are maintained.
RSS founder M.S. Golwalker identified five
defining features of the Hindu nation –
geographical unity, racial unity, cultural
unity, linguistic unity, and the slogan 1“Hindu, Hindi, and Hindustan”. He said:
“The non-Hindu people in Hindustan must
either adopt the Hindu culture and
language, must learn to respect and revere
Hindu religion, must entertain no idea but
the glorification of the Hindu religion, that
is, they must not only give up their attitude
of intolerance and ingratitude towards this
land and its age-long tradition, but must also
cultivate the positive attitude of love and
devotion instead; in one word they must
cease to be foreigners or may stay in the
country wholly subordinated to the Hindu
nation, claiming nothing, deserving no
privileges, far less any preferential 2treatment – not even citizens' rights”.
Meanwhile, Christians face social exclusion,
expulsion from villages, detention, threats,
abuse, physical violence and sometimes
killings. Open Doors' partners have
identified a pattern.
10 CHALLENGES TO NATION BUILDING IN DEFENSE OF THE CONSTITUTION
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"WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA,
having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a
SOVEREIGN SOCIALIST SECULAR DEMOCRATIC
REPUBLIC
and to secure to all its citizens:
JUSTICE, social, economic and political;
LIBERTY of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship;
EQUALITY of status and of opportunity;
and to promote among them all
FRATERNITY assuring the dignity of the individual and
the unity and integrity of the Nation;
IN OUR CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY
this twenty-sixth day of November, 1949,
do HEREBY, ADOPT, ENACT AND GIVE
TO OURSELVES THIS CONSTITUTION".
THE PREAMBLE OF
THE INDIAN CONSTITUTION
11CHALLENGES TO NATION BUILDING IN DEFENSE OF THE CONSTITUTION
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h e B o m b a y A r c h d i o c e s a n
Commission for Inter-Religious
Dialogue is a Commission of the TArchdiocese of Bombay, entrusted with the
implementation of the objectives of the
ministry of IRD in this Archdiocese. It
functions as per the vision of inter-religious
relations that the Church desires to be
established all over the world as
well as in the local churches.
In the universal Church, the
impetus for engagement in
IRD came from the Second
Vatican Council which, in
the Declaration entitled
"Nostra Aetate" clarified that
the mission of the Church
comprised both, proclamation and
dialogue (NA 2). And to foster this
work of dialogue, the then Pope Paul VI
(now St Pope Paul VI) set up in 1964 the
Secretariat for Non-Christians, more
recently renamed "The Pontifical Council
for Inter-Religious Dialogue" (PCID).
It was already way back in this same year,
1964, that during the 38th International
Eucharistic Congress, Fr. Esteller SJ
Office Address: Address for correspondence:
Archbishop's House Institute of Indian Culture
21 Nathalal Parekh Marg, Mahakali Road
Fort Andheri East
Mumbai 400 001 Mumbai 400 093
www.archbomird.org
THE BOMBAY ARCHDIOCESAN COMMISSION
FOR INTER-RELIGIOUS DIALOGUE
organized in Mumbai on 3rd December, a
gathering of people of different faiths as an
expression of the communion in society that
Eucharistic spirituality is supposed to
engender. Even at that time, the Archdiocese
witnessed a lot of interest among Christians
and people of other faiths in interacting with
one another, for prayer, for fellowship and
f o r common social action.
It was at the Synod of the
Archdiocese of Bombay in
2001 that this ministry came
t o b e a c c e p t e d a s a
m a i n s t r e a m p a s t o r a l
concern, and entrusted to the
Archdiocesan Commission for
Inter-Religious Dialogue which
would "seek to promote the theology
and spirituality of inter-religious
dialogue and suggest suitable occasions for
inter-religious dialogue and celebrations
(Post Synodal Document, No. 32.4).” This
Conference has been organized in view of
th i s on-going involvement o f the
Archdiocese of Bombay in building inter-
religious relations for collaboration in
society.
Brochure designed by Stella Sequeira and printed at Ganesh Offset, Dadar, Mumbai 400 028. Tel.: 2437 8688
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