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Special Report |
LAST UPDATE July 12, 2005
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| site design imagesparkle.com |
| June 28, 2003 |
Threats facing Indian democracy – Presentation - Aditya Sarkar |
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| Aditya Sarkar and “The Threats to Indian Democracy” |
A modern history student at university in New Delhi and busy activist against right-wing politics, the Narmada Valley dam project and the nuclear armament of India, Aditya is well qualified to talk about the dangers and threats currently facing his country. He began his presentation by asking the question: What is Indian democracy? Since the end of British colonization in 1947, India has been a secular state ? all religions are equal ? and the foundation of democracy has been based upon this policy of no one faith claming ascendancy over the others. But, 82 percent of India is Hindu, and the right-wing Hindutva parties, believe the country belongs to them, and that followers of other faiths should be second class citizens.
Though many people of different religions live together without conflict all over India, the actions of Hindutva serve to create hatred and violence between these communities. In the early 1990s a mosque was pulled down for a temple to be built in its place. The state justified this act of destruction by claiming there was a temple there before, and generated support from local Hindus. Not only Muslims are victims of this attack on religious minorities. In 1999 an Australian missionary and his sons were burnt alive. Again, this, and the other incidents of churches and bibles also being set alight, arguably had the tacit support of the government.
Only last March, after the firebombing of a train carriage by Muslim criminal elements where 59 people were killed, the government encouraged the bloody retaliations by drawing up lists of Muslim homes and businesses to be attacked. Thousands were killed in the ensuing massacres, as the state stood by and watched. Aditya also gave a personal account of the violence, telling how he had been taking part in a peaceful demonstration when he and his friends had been attacked by right-wing militants throwing shards of glass. Though the persecution of religious minorities continues, Aditya hopes that by taking part in the protests, he made a small difference. |
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| Statement to the press in Cochin about the refusal of the Indian government to grant Pakistani International Student, Aman Azhar, a visa |
In May 1998, “The Smiling Buddha” was detonated beneath the desert sands at Pokhran, and the newspaper headlines announced to the world that India had the “Bomb”. Before the Indian National Party came to power, India had been an anti-nuclear country that had pushed for disarmament. Suddenly it had become a nation proud to have the power to kill hundreds of thousands of people at the push of a button. Aditya was not only shocked by this news, but also by the attitude of some of his friends who were excited that India had gone nuclear. Many Indians are not fully aware of the terrible dangers of nuclear weapons, making it difficult to organize a peace movement. As a supporter of MIND - Movement for Indian Nuclear Disarmament - Aditya is committed to the campaign against nuclear weapons.
The third threat to Indian democracy that participants of Peace Boat listened to was the construction of a massive hydroelectric dam in the Narmada Valley. The Sardar Sarovar dam will displace over 500,000 people, and the government has yet to offer compensation or relocation to these homeless and mostly poor families. In response to this project, the “Save the Narmada” movement was formed - Narmada Bachao Andolan - and although it hasn’t been able to stop the building of the dam, it has helped people fight for their right to be rehabilitated and raised worldwide awareness of this human rights issue.
To finish his presentation on a positive note, Aditya outlined the hopes for his country, and what must be done to protect “Indian Democracy”, citing the lost values of Gandhi and peaceful resistance, the growing power of the NGO movement, building networks of solid resistance - not just activist groups reacting to events, and the need for an alternative vision, not just an “anti” viewpoint or stance. India is at a crossroads, and the moral choices made now will decide which route will be taken. |
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