Stating that the word secularism has been abused in India, civil rights activist Teesta Setalvad said here on Saturday that collective efforts should be made to rehabilitate the word and its true essence.
“Framing the Indian Constitution was not an easy task and was deliberated upon by various sections of leaders… Secularism means equal distance from every religion and no discrimination,” Ms. Setalvad said.
UnconstitutionalTalking about State Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s efforts to win over the confidence of minorities, she said: “Any effort by the government to be partial to one community is an unconstitutional move and should be condemned.”
The Padma Shri recipient recently courted controversy after she uploaded a picture on a social networking website showing an image of Hindu goddess Kali with the head replaced with that of an Islamic fundamentalist which drew the ire of netizens claiming their religious sentiments were hurt. Ms. Setalvad has since removed the image and issued a public apology.
“Social media is increasingly becoming a source for expressing hatred and social aggression. The need of the hour is to develop an alternate social media which can create the space for social transformation,” she said.
National integrationShe drew attention to the need for highlighting stories of national integration from various communities of India during the fight for independence and said stories of many significant leaders like Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan should be highlighted in history text books.
Ms. Setalvad is the secretary of an organisation formed to fight for justice for the victims of communal violence in the Gujarat riots in 2002. The organisation had demanded the criminal trial of Prime Minister and then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and other government officials for their alleged involvement in the riots.
Asked what was the difference between the communal tensions during the pre-Independence stage and the riots that occur now, she said the nature of riots were similar.
“Post 1947 and with the establishment of a secular state, there has been an increase in anti-Constitution and partisan behaviour whose full-blown form was seen in the Gujarat riots,” she said.
Hinting at the Centre’s policy for industrialisation, Left intellectual Amiya Bagchi said mere industrialisation would not be able to bring about change and development in a country and termed it as a ‘British concept’.
He said although the Left Front had been in power for 34 years in West Bengal, it failed to eradicate illiteracy from the State, the only drawback of the former State government.
