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Attack on democracy and human rights

South Asia Bulletin

 

Wednesday, September 05, 2018

Dissent Is Democracy

Arrest of activists casts a shadow over state’s commitment to constitutional values

Written by L Ramdas | Updated: September 5, 2018 4:33:09 am

Dissent Is Democracy

Pune police arrested (Clockwise) Sudha Bharadwaj in Faridabad, Varavara Rao in Hyderabad, Gautam Navlakha in New Delhi, Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira in Mumbai.Written by L Ramdas

 

It was after nearly two years of intensive debate amongst the members of the Constituent Assembly of India that India adopted her Constitution on November 29, 1949 and this came into effect on January 26, 1950, the day we celebrate as Republic Day.

The Constitution assured every Indian citizen, irrespective of religion, caste or community, all the fundamental freedoms and rights, as indeed duties and responsibilities. It was one of the most progressive and remarkable documents produced under the stewardship of Babasaheb Ambedkar and his team of eminent, critical and intellectually mature men and women, who were able to translate the hopes and dreams of millions into a vision document spelling out the framework for a democratic, just and inclusive India

For those of us who had joined the armed forces of a newly independent nation, it was an exhilarating moment. And when we were commissioned as officers in 1952 and 1953, it is to that Constitution that we swore our allegiance. Indeed every civil servant, politician and those holding public office does likewise, starting with the highest in the land, the President of India, who is also the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces.

Seven decades down the line — while much has been done and achieved of which our nation can justifiably be proud — there are serious concerns about the core values we had also set out for ourselves. I refer here to the freedom of thought, expression, and religion, and the fundamental premise on which a healthy democracy is based — namely, the right to equality regardless of caste, faith and gender, and the responsibility to voice dissent and uphold our secular and inclusive polity in such a manner that the last woman or man is never excluded or exploited.

The steady erosion of these basic pillars of our democracy — as embodied in the executive, legislature and judiciary — has led to the present visible decline in following the basic norms, which have always guided our institutions. This has been exemplified in recent times by several anti- and un-democratic actions by the state, and increasingly, by non-state actors, as seen in the mob lynchings and other such manifestations of the breakdown of law and order.
The latest glaring display of this has been in the totally unwarranted and illegal manner in which five well-known human rights activists have been pursued and arrested by the Pune police from several locations across the country in total violation of their fundamental rights and the law of the land for crimes, which appear to be totally unspecified and unsubstantiated.

As a citizen and a service veteran, I feel it is my sacred duty to express my deep distress and concern, especially when too many of us, in keeping with one of the traditions with which we in uniform were trained, are silent. Our silence is not to be mistaken for consent. Large numbers of veterans are deeply unhappy with the turn of events in our republic. There are some of us who have written open letters to the highest in the land, sharing our concerns.

I am happy that in its wisdom, the Supreme Court has put a stay on these arrests. I can only echo the words of the judge who has firmly upheld one of the pillars of any democratic system when he says, “Dissent is the safety valve of democracy”.

 

 

Canadian student charged with incitement to mutiny for shouting slogan in India

Statements/News Releases

PRESS RELEASE

 

Montreal 3 September, 2018

 

We write with alarm and concern at the arrest of Ms Lois Sofia, an MSc (graduate research) student in Mathematical Physics at the Université de Sherbrooke in Quebec by the Indian police yesterday. Ms Lois was on a flight back to her hometown of Tuticorin in the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu when she found herself sitting behind Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan, the president of the state unit of the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), the party currently in power nationally. Her crime seems to have been that she shouted “BJP’s fascist government down down.” Dr Sounderrajan reported her to the police, who charged her with sections regarding public nuisance, public mischief and causing armed forces to mutiny under the Indian Penal Code, the Tamil Nadu Police Act, and the Code of Criminal Procedure. A local court has remanded Sofia to 15 days of judicial custody. 

 

Ms Sofia’s arrest for a quite minor expression of opposition is not an isolated incident. It follows last week’s arrests of five eminent democratic rights defenders on unfounded charges of being supporters of “terrorist” organizations, and is part of a larger pattern of criminalization and suppression of dissent by the BJP, an ethno-nationalist party committed to making India into a “Hindu” nation. The party has used agencies of the state to attack and arrest, and encouraged social vigilantes, hate trollers, and lynch mobs against Muslim and Christian minorities, Dalits (oppressed castes) and adivasis (indigenous people), as well as writers, artists, journalists, lawyers, academics, and others who speak out in defence of civil liberties and democratic rights.

 

We ask that Ms Sofia be released and all charges against her be dropped. The expression of opposition and dissent is a fundamental right in a democracy. The criminalization of the exercise of this right suggests that democracy itself is under threat in India.

 

CERAS (Montreal)

Dolores Chew: Phone

 

India Civil Watch-Canada

Feroz Mehdi: Phone

 

South Asia Network for Secularism and Democracy (SANSAD, Vancouver)

South Asia Left and Democratic Association (SALDA, Toronto)

 

https://scroll.in/latest/ 893033/tamil-nadu-student- arrested-for-shouting-anti- bjp-slogans-inside-flight

 

 

Joint statement against attacks on democracy

Solidarity Links

 

 

URGENT! Read, act, disseminate — DEMOCRACY AT RISK — AN UNDECLARED EMERGENCY IN INDIA

We write with great urgency and alarm about events that took place in India early on the morning of Tuesday 28th August. In simultaneous, concerted actions in Mumbai, Goa, Delhi, Ranchi and Hyderabad, individuals were arrested and homes raided. Those arrested were: Sudha Bharadwaj, Gautam Navalakha, Vernon Gonsalves, Arun Ferreira, and Varavara Rao. Their homes were also searched and materials removed. Those whose homes were raided, or who were humiliated include: K. Satyanarayan, Anand Teltumbde, Father Stan Swamy, Kranthi Tekula, K.V. Kumarnath, and Susan Abraham. Last Tuesday’s arrests follow the arrests in June this year of five others on the same charges: Surendra Gadling, Suhdir Dhawale, Shoma Sen, Rona Wilson, and Mahesh Raut. All these individuals are lawyers, intellectuals, and activists from many communities and different walks of life, who have dedicated their lives to the service of Dalits, workers, the poor and marginalized, and are advocates and proponents of civil liberties and democratic rights.

For months now in India a reign of terror has been unleashed with state complicity against Muslims and minorities. The government at the Centre and in some states is dominated by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), an ethno-nationalist party committed to making India into Hindutva, a “Hindu” nation.They will do whatever it takes to advance their political objectives. And the clock is ticking as the nation heads to the polls in May 2019. Their failure to make good on promises of economic improvements and growth has led them to fall out of favour with many of those who voted for their platform of development and change. As well, their policies of majoritarian tyranny, where there are almost daily incidences of lynchings of Muslims and Dalits have also caused the blinders to fall from many who had supported them.

Desperate to change the narrative, they are inventing threats to the nation to rally people to their side.  The slightest form of dissent invokes the label “anti-national” or urban Maoist, after which “terrorist” is not slow to follow. They use violence, threats and intimidation to get their way, and are ably assisted by sections of the corporate media. To get compliance they want to create a climate of fear. And they will keep escalating these tactics.Unrestrained social violence and vigilantism is the order of the day: the arrests follow in the wake of recent attacks on other voices for justice such as Swami Agnivesh, Umar Khalid and other student activists. In fact a BJP lawmaker from the state of Karnataka was emboldened to advocate the murder of “intellectuals”.

When those who have a record of defending the victims of state violence in courts and forming committees to investigate massacres and human rights violations are now the targets, a very, very dangerous threshold has been crossed. Every vestige of democratic functioning is in jeopardy.

If you care for democracy, peace,and justice speak out and take action now. Demand the release of those arrested, the dropping of all charges, and an immediate end to political harassment of government opponents. The Diaspora matters. We must speak out in our communities, make them aware of what is happening. Write to federal and provincial political representatives, the Foreign Affairs Minister — tell them of your deep concern; call on them to take this up with India via their political channels. Write to the Indian High Commissioner or Consuls as well. In 1975 The Emergency ushered in a period in India where all civil liberties were abrogated. We are seeing the same thing now – an undeclared Emergency against the people of India. Act now! Make a difference!

 

Centre sur l’asie du sud (CERAS), Montréal ∙ DESSA (Democracy, Equality and Secularism in South Asia), Winnipeg ∙  Indians Abroad for Pluralist India (IAPI), Vancouver ∙ India Civil Watch-Canada ∙ Punjabi Literary and Cultural Association, Winnipeg ∙ South Asia Left Democratic Alliance (SALDA), Toronto ∙ South Asian Network for Secularism and Democracy (SANSAD), Vancouver

cerasmontreal@gmail.com; https://sansad.org/

URGENT! Lire, agir, diffuser – LA DÉMOCRATIE EST À RISQUE – UNE SITUATION D’URGENCE INDIQUÉE EN INDE

Nous écrivons avec beaucoup d’urgence et d’alarme sur les événements qui se sont déroulés en Inde tôt le matin du mardi 28 août. Au cours d’actions simultanées et concertées à Mumbai, Goa, Delhi, Ranchi et Hyderabad, des individus ont été arrêtés et des habitations ont été attaquées. Les personnes arrêtées étaient: Sudha Bharadwaj, Gautam Navalakha, Vernon Gonsalves, Arun Ferreira et Varavara Rao. Leurs maisons ont également été fouillées et les matériaux enlevés. Les personnes dont les maisons ont fait l’objet d’une descente ou qui ont été humiliées sont: K. Satyanarayan, Anand Teltumbde, le père Stan Swamy, Kranthi Tekula, K.V. Kumarnath et Susan Abraham. L’arrestation de mardi dernier à la suite des arrestations en juin dernier de cinq autres accusés sur les mêmes chefs d’accusation: Surendra Gadling, Suhdir Dhawale, Shoma Sen, Rona Wilson et Mahesh Raut. Toutes ces personnes sont des avocats, des intellectuels et des militants de nombreuses communautés et de différents milieux qui ont consacré leur vie au service des Dalits, des travailleurs, des pauvres et des marginalisés, et défendent et défendent les libertés civiles et les droits démocratiques.

Depuis des mois en Inde, un règne de terreur a été déclenché avec la complicité de l’État contre les musulmans et les minorités. Le gouvernement du Centre et de certains États est dominé par le Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), un parti ethno-nationaliste engagé à faire de l’Inde une nation hindoue appelée Hindutva. Ils feront tout ce qui est en leur pouvoir pour faire avancer leurs objectifs politiques. Et le temps presse car la nation se rend aux urnes en mai 2019. Leur incapacité à tenir les promesses d’améliorations économiques et de croissance les a conduits à tomber en disgrâce auprès de beaucoup de ceux qui ont voté pour leur plateforme de développement et de changement. De plus, leurs politiques de tyrannie majoritaire, où les lynchages de musulmans et de dalits sont quasi quotidiens, ont également fait tomber les œillères de beaucoup de ceux qui les avaient soutenues.

Désespérés de changer le récit, ils inventent des menaces contre la nation pour rallier les gens à leurs côtés. La moindre forme de dissidence invoque le label «anti-national» ou maoïste urbain, après quoi «terroriste» ne tarde pas à suivre. Ils se servent de la violence, des menaces et de l’intimidation pour se frayer un chemin et sont aidés avec compétence par des sections des médias d’entreprise. Pour se mettre en conformité, ils veulent créer un climat de peur. Et ils continueront à intensifier ces tactiques. Des violences sociales et un vigilantisme effrénés sont à l’ordre du jour: les arrestations font suite aux récentes attaques contre d’autres voix pour la justice telles que Swami Agnivesh, Umar Khalid et d’autres militants étudiants. En fait, un législateur du BJP de l’État du Karnataka a été encouragé à préconiser le meurtre d’intellectuels.

Lorsque ceux qui ont l’habitude de défendre les victimes de la violence de l’État devant les tribunaux et de créer des comités pour enquêter sur les massacres et les violations des droits de l’homme sont désormais les cibles, un seuil très, très dangereux a été franchi. Tout vestige de fonctionnement démocratique est en péril.

Si vous aimez la démocratie, la paix et la justice, prenez la parole et agissez maintenant. Exiger la libération des personnes arrêtées, l’abandon de toutes les accusations et la cessation immédiate du harcèlement politique des opposants au gouvernement. Les Diasporamatters. Nous devons parler dans nos communautés, les sensibiliser à ce qui se passe. Écrivez aux représentants politiques fédéraux et provinciaux, au ministre des Affaires étrangères – dites-leur votre profonde préoccupation, appelez-les à en discuter avec l’Inde via leurs canaux politiques. Écrivez également au haut-commissaire ou aux consuls indiens. En 1975, The Emergency a inauguré une période en Inde où toutes les libertés civiles ont été abrogées. Nous voyons la même chose maintenant – une urgence non déclarée contre le peuple indien. Agir maintenant! Faites une différence!

Centre sur l’asie du sud (CERAS), Montréal ∙ DESSA (Democracy, Equality and Secularism in South Asia), Winnipeg ∙ Indians Abroad for Pluralist India (IAPI), Vancouver ∙ India Civil Watch-Canada ∙ Punjabi Literary and Cultural Association, Winnipeg ∙ South Asia Left Democratic Alliance (SALDA), Toronto ∙ South Asian Network for Secularism and Democracy (SANSAD), Vancouver

cerasmontreal@gmail.com; https://sansad.org/

Advance of Hindutva fascism in India

Statements/News Releases

SANSAD news release August 31, 2018

Stand Up for the Human Rights Defenders

South Asian Network for Secularism and Democracy (SANSAD), an organization of South Asian diaspora in Canada affirming the unity of people in South Asia across synthetic national boundaries, joins its voice to the chorus of outrage in India and in the Indian diaspora against the latest episode in the determined march of India toward Hindutva fascism, the construction of an authoritarian-populist state identified as a Hindu nation.

On August 28 the Maharashtra police simultaneously raided the homes of human rights and civil liberty activists, including journalists, writers, poets, academics, lawyers, and priests in Bombay, Delhi, Hyderabad, Goa, and Ranchi. They arrested under the draconian Unlawful Activities (Prevention)Act and other provisions of the Indian Penal Code Gautam Navlakha, journalist, writer, and former president for People’s Union for Democratic Reforms; Sudha Bhardwaj, a civil liberties activist who had renounced her US citizenship acquired by birth 30 years ago to work among the oppressed Dalits and unorganized workers in the mines near the steel plant at Bhilai and has worked tirelessly for three decades to organize labor and, as a lawyer to defend the Adivasis against illegal land acquisition and denial of their forest rights, and who currently teaches at the National Law University in Delhi; Varvara Rao, a renowned poet and activist; Arun Fereira, a civil rights activist and lawyer based in Bombay, who has already spent five years in jail on false charges that were dismissed in court; and Vernon Gonsalves, a human rights activist.

The police also raided the homes of management and data analysis specialist, academic, prolific writer, and public intellectual Anand Teltumbde, who delivered the Dr. Ambedkar Memorial Lecture at Simon Fraser University (Surrey) and University of British Columbia (Vancouver) in 2016; Susan Abraham, civil liberties lawyer and member of the Committee for Protection of Democratic Rights; Father Stan Swami, priest, teacher, and Adivasi rights activist; K. Satyanarayana, Head of the Department of Cultural Studies and Dean of Interdisciplinary Studies at the English and Foreign Language University in Hyderabad; and Kranti Tekula, human rights activist.

These arrests and raids come on the heels of similar arrests after violence broke out following a rally in Pune held by Dalits on December 31, 2017 to celebrate the victory of Dalit soldiers of the British colonial army over the upper caste Marathas in the Battle of Bhima Koregaon. A day after the rally upper caste Hindutva forces attacked the Dalits and a Dalit was killed. Two Hindutva leaders were identified by eye witnesses. Miland Ekbote and Shambhaji Rao Bhide, were arrested but released. Instead, Shoma Sen, professor, Nagpur University, Surendra Gadling, human rights lawyer who has been defending the paraplegic professor G. N. Saibaba, Sudhir Dhawale, editor of a magazine, Rona Wilson, member of the Committee for the Protection of Political Prisoners, and Mahesh Raut, prominent anti-displacement activist were arrested under various sections of the IPC and the blanket Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

These events show a clear pattern. While lynch mobs and assassins freely go about their business, with those who are arrested for murders being not only released but garlanded by government ministers, policemen who rape, torture, and engage in custodial murders, code named “encounters,” enjoy impunity and are often rewarded, those who stand up for the oppressed and downtrodden and defend the rights granted to citizens by the Indian Constitution are thrown into jail to prevent their “unlawful activities” or harassed to intimidate them and others against speaking up.

The arrests and raids of Aug 28 are no doubt immediately motivated by the need of the BJP Hindutva nationalist government to counter the social disaffection that has been generated by its organized mobs in their killing of Muslims and the recent assaults on a revered secular Hindu scholar like Swami Agnivesh of the reformist Arya Samaj. It is also motivated by the need to deflect attention from the economic failures of the government, and most immediately by the need to distract from the exposure that Hindu terrorist group Sanatana Sanstha and its affiliate Janajagruti Samiti had prepared plots and collected arms and explosives for attacks on crowds in festivals and that they were linked to the murder of journalist and editor, Gauri Lankesh in 2017 and to the earlier murders of scholars, rationalists, and activists Govind Pansare, Narendra Dhabolkar, and Prof. Kulbargi. Seeking fascist powers through electoral means, the BJP government needs to both distract from the fallout of the acts of its non-state agents and to create an enemy to unify people. Hence the creation of the labels, “anti-national” and “urban Naxal”.

The oppression of Adivasis, Dalits, peasant, and workers in India is not new. But this has taken on an unprecedented intensity under the neo-liberal agenda that was initiated by the Congress and has been taken up with extreme vigor by the current BJP government, who have added to it the toxic fervor of religious nationalism. The defenders of human rights expose the resulting oppression and enable resistance to the illegal operations of the state. As such they are a roadblock to the neo-liberal agenda allied to and powered by the drive to recreate a glorious Hindu Rashtra of a mythic past. The defenders of human rights and civil liberties are named “anti-national” and “urban Naxals” because by such naming the party, with its Hinduva ideology, its government, and its corporate allies are made to stand for the nation that must be defended. “Naxal/Maoist” is the most powerful label for the enemy that the previous prime minister, Manmohan Singh declared to be the greatest internal threat to Indian security when initiating counter-insurgency in the forests of Chhatisgarh and other areas where Maoists were leading the Adivasis to fight back.

While the Muslim as enemy, potentially uniting Hindus, is the domain of violence by the non-state brigade, the “Naxal/Maoist” whether in the jungles of Chhatisgarh or as a bogey in its urban form, whether Adivasis defending their lands, waters, and forest rights or middle- class activists speaking on their behalf in civil society and the courts is the domain of state repression. It is a most convenient label for the suppression of democracy and freedom in the interest of predatory capital. It is not surprising that the corporate media, owned by big business houses act as the mouthpiece of the government in propagating this anti-democratic rhetoric. Such combined use of propaganda, mob action, and the state machinery for the realization of its ideological goal of Hindu Rashtra by the BJP puts India well on its way to Hinduva fascism.

We demand that all these human rights defenders arrested on false charges and under colonial era repressive legislation be immediately and unconditionally freed and all material confiscated in various related raids be returned to the owners. We urge all democratic people to write to their elected representatives to oppose the development of fascism in India.