A symposium in Calcutta on Sunday will focus on the road to a “violence-free India”.
The meeting will be held at a time when hatred and division threaten to destroy the pluralistic fabric of India.
Bahujan Samaj Party MP Danish Ali, the target of a communally-laced verbal abuse by BJP MP Ramesh Bhiduri in Parliament, will be among those attending the programme, the organisers said at a news conference at Calcutta Press Club on Wednesday.
Arfa Khanum Sherwani, journalist and human rights activist; former Rajya Sabha member and Congress leader Tariq Anwar; and retired Supreme Court judge Ashok Kumar Ganguly, will be among the other speakers at the symposium on “Violence-Free India: The Way Forward”.
“India, a nation with a rich tapestry of cultures, traditions, and diverse communities, is at the crossroads.... The continuous violence in different parts of India like Manipur, Nuh in Haryana, the violence in an educational institution in Muzaffarnagar (in Uttar Pradesh) and the recent verbal violence even in Parliament depict a harrowing picture of India today.
The symposium seeks to provide a platform for open discussions and proactive solutions that will help pave the way for a violence-free future,” said the organisers, West Bengal Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat.
The All India Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat is an umbrella organisation of several Muslim organisations in the country.
“We are witnessing something unprecedented. Whenever you switch the TV on, you see hatred being peddled by most anchors. The oppression of minorities, not only Muslims but all marginalised sections, has become institutionalised. But we who consider ourselves sane human beings, cannot sit idle,”
said M.N. Haque, president of the state chapter of the All India Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat.
Manzar Jameel, secretary-general of the Bengal chapter, said: “The Manipur bloodshed, the communal violence in Haryana’s Nuh, the shameful incident at a school in Uttar Pradesh (where a teacher instigated pupils to slap a fellow Muslim student) and the abuse hurled at Ali in Parliament were a prelude to a much bigger disaster”.
“It is upon us, the ordinary citizens, to stand up to this bigotry,” he said.