South Asia Citizens Web

PUDR strongly condemns the burning of the effigies of activists and a journalist by the Chhatissgarh Auxiliary police force across Bastar in a widely publicised ‘offical protest on 24th October. This show of strength by state forces against civilians was the latest and most brazen example of the patronage extended by the government and its systematic fostering of a Police Raj in Bastar. All the public figures whose effigies were burnt- Manish Kunjam, Nandini Sundar, Himanhsu Kumar, Soni Sori, Bela Bhatia and Malini Subramaniam- are members of civil society who have faced violence and intimidation earlier as well for exposing and resisting the ongoing war against the adivasis in Bastar.

We, the signatories of this statement, come from diverse backgrounds including social and natural sciences, engineering, policy advocacy and law, community organisation, journalism and science popularisation, but we all believe that sharing the waters of the Cauvery is not only a political, administrative and technical challenge but requires an alternative vision for the entire river basin and informed public discourse to transform conflict into cooperation.

What the threat-makers forget is this — culture humanises what politics demonises. Banning artists, writers, actors and poets will give victory to the terrorists and extremists who don’t want people-to-people contact. They only want to create fear.

The law, known as the Foreign Donations (Voluntary Activities) Regulation Bill 2016 (FDRB), came into effect on October 13, 2016. The law requires all foreign-funded NGOs, a category that describes development, human rights, and many other organizations, to submit virtually all activities for approval to a bureau under the prime minister’s office, without clear criteria for grounds for rejection or a timeframe in which decisions should be rendered. Registration is similarly at the discretion of the bureau, and a last-minute addition to the law makes it an offense for NGOs to criticize the government.

The fundamental characteristic of the emerging republic is a majoritarian tone and tenor. The justice system is learning to gloss over hate speech and violent assertions of Hinduism. That is evident nationwide, as police side with attackers, especially with self-proclaimed gau rakshaks (cow defenders) and victimise victims, almost all Muslim.