SECULARISM, DEMOCRACY, HUMAN RIGHTS AND SOCIAL JUSTICE

INSAF Bulletin 273 January 2025
Founding Editor: Daya Varma (1929-2015)
Editors: Vinod Mubayi (New York) and Raza Mir (New Jersey).
Editorial Board: Ram Puniyani and Irfan Engineer (Mumbai); Pervez Hoodbhoy (Islamabad); Dolores Chew (Montreal); Vamsi Vakulabharanam (Amherst); Ajay Bhardwaj (Vancouver).
Circulation/website: Feroz Mehdi (On behalf of Alternatives, Montreal).

EDITORIAL: DEMOCRACY VS HYPOCRISY AND FALSEHOOD

Vinod Mubayi

While patriotism may be, as the venerable Dr Samuel Johnson once said, “the last refuge of the scoundrel”, nation states that consider themselves democracies are often accustomed to uttering fine sounding words like freedom and human rights. However, they often turn out to be more adept at hypocrisy and falsehood, with a yawning gap between their pronouncements and their actions. The world’s oldest democracy and the world’s largest democracy that never tire of proclaiming their democratic virtues to the rest of the countries of the world are masters of hypocritical practices as a brief survey of their history and recent practice illustrates. In both countries, an ecosystem consisting of the mainstream media, legislators, bureaucracy, think tanks, and corporate hierarchies maintains, justifies, and sometimes amplifies this hypocrisy.

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REPORT OF COMMUNAL RIOTS IN INDIA IN THE YEAR 2024

CSSS Team

According to the Centre Study of Society and Secularism (CSSS) monitoring of newspaper reports (Indian Express, Times of India, The Hindu, Shahafat, and Inquilab), 59 communal riots occurred in the year 2024, marking a sharp  increase of 84% from 32 communal riots reported in the year 2023.

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MISSING THE MARK: INVITING PM MODI TO A CHRISTMAS RECEPTION IGNORES THE PLIGHT OF PERSECUTED CHRISTIANS

THE FOLLOWING STATEMENT HAS BEEN SIGNED BY CLOSE TO 200 PEOPLE INCLUDING : Tushar Gandhi, Annie Raja, Father Cedric Prakash, John Dayal, Prakash Louis, Pamela Philipose, Brinelle D’souza, Aloysius Irudayam, Shabnam Hashmi, Lisa Pires, Minakshi Singh , Abha Bhaiya, and Vinod Pande.

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THE REVIVAL OF SAARC AND THE LARGER QUESTION OF REGIONAL SOLIDARITY AND INTEGRATION

Dr. Saeed Ahmed Rid

“I am a big fan of the idea of SAARC. I keep harping on the issue. I want a summit of SAARC leaders even if it is only for a photo session because that will carry a strong message,” said Dr. Mohammad Yunus, leader of Bangladesh’s interim government, speaking to Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on the sidelines of a summit in Cairo on Thursday, the D-8 Organization for Economic Cooperation between eight Muslim-majority countries.

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INDIA 2024 IS BHOPAL 1984++

Pankaj Sekhsaria

For reasons I cannot quite explain, there are two things I remember distinctly about 1984 even though I was only in my early teens then. The first is a visit to my grandmother’s in Calcutta (now Kolkata) for our annual Diwali sojourn. The annual, sometimes biannual, train journey across the breadth of the country from home in Poona (now Pune) to the city of a grandmother, many uncles and aunts, and even more cousins was fun for many reasons.

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SHEIKH HASINA GOVERNMENT: A RECORD OF CORRUPTION AND OPPRESSION

Kallol Mustafa

Through a mass uprising of students and the public, the highly corrupt and oppressive autocratic rule under Sheikh Hasina came to an end on August 5. Understanding the political economy behind why Sheikh Hasina’s government, once elected with overwhelming public support, became deeply despised and rejected is crucial.

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SITE OF DECEIT: HOW THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF INDIA FORTIFIES HINDUTVA HISTORY

Eram Agha

THE DELHI OFFICE of the Archaeological Survey of India was thrown into a frenzy on 21 July 2023. A district court in Varanasi had ordered the director general of the ASI to put together a team to carry out a “scientific investigation/ survey/ excavation” at the Gyanvapi Masjid site and submit a report in two weeks. Things had to move fast.

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