Attempt being made to redefine the citizenship in country: Krishna Jha
Author(s): City Air NewsA seminar on Peace, Harmony and Development being organised by the Social Thinkers Forum and Lok Sahit Manch at Punjabi Bhawan, Ludhiana on Saturday. Ludhiana, October 31, 2015: Decrying the concerted campaign of...
cityairnews
Oct 31, 2015 09:30
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A seminar on Peace, Harmony and Development being organised by the Social Thinkers Forum and Lok Sahit Manch at Punjabi Bhawan, Ludhiana on Saturday.
Ludhiana, October 31, 2015: Decrying the concerted campaign of the Sangh Parivar against the democratic system of our country built up over decades in the post-independence period, the seminar on Peace, Harmony and Development organized by the Social Thinkers Forum and Lok Sahit Manch at Punjabi Bhawan today called upon all the saner and right thinking people to unite to preserve the rich social fabric of our country and appealed to the people not to be swayed away by narrow parochial slogans but come forward steadfastly as they did during the freedom movement to preserve the right to freedom of speech and unity in diversity of our country. Addressing as keynote speaker, Mrs.Krishna Jha, Social Thinker and Journalist said that an attempt is being made to redefine the citizenship in the country in religious-communal terms and leave others as secondary, threatening not only democracy but constitution too and thus blocking development and destroying harmony and peace and curbing freedom of speech and expression. Murder of kill Narendra Dabholkar, Com Govind Pansare, Prof MM Kalburgi for their protest in writing is a reflection of this bizarre psychology and ideology. It was a message to any protest raising head among the masses which was spelt out clearly when Arun Jaitley called it “manufactured protest”. But our country is not going to allow this…! The growing intolerance and indifference are visible at every step and against it, the country is witnessing waves of protests from almost all. Authors, historians, scientists, doctors and cultural activists have joined the rebellion in an unprecedented way, she said.
Introducing the theme of the seminar Dr Arun Mitra – Convener Social Thinkers Forum said that the differences of opinion are being settled by physical violence instead of arguments. Even the food habits are being dictated and people are being lynched on false pretexts in the names of “Gau Raksha”. At the launch of a book whose author happens to be from a country disapproved of by fundamentalists, the organizer is disfigured with ink thrown on his face. The silence of the Prime Minister in this regard is highly intriguing. When it is hoped that the Head of Government will make a statement about improving the prevailing conditions, he chooses to speak only about general poverty; and it takes the Head of the State to make the required reassuring statement, not once but twice. When writer after writer is returning their award of recognition in protest, no comment is made about the conditions that caused the protest; instead the ministers call it a paper revolution and advise the writers to stop writing. This is as good as saying that intellectuals will be silenced if they protest. Addressing the seminar Dr L S Chawla – President Indian Doctors for Peace and Development (IDPD) said that India ranks very low in the Human Development Index and such event will further bring it down. He warned that the events that are occurring at present will have far reaching national and international implications.
The seminar was compeered by Sh.M S Bhatia. Those who participated in the interactive session include Com Charan Sarabha, Com D P Maur, Advocate Naval Chhibber, Mrs.Gurcharan Kochar, S.Sardul Singh, S.Ranjit Singh, Com O P Mehta.
Date:
Saturday, October 31, 2015
