challenges to nation building in defense of the … · kerala. 883 cases of atrocities between june...

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

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

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

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

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.


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

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.


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


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

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


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.


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

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.


"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


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

Page 1Page 2Page 3Page 4Page 5Page 6Page 7Page 8Page 9Page 10Page 11Page 12

challenges to nation building in defense of the … · kerala. 883 cases of atrocities between june...

Documents