As India gears up to vote in the Parliamentary elections this summer, over a hundred civil society influencers from across the country have committed themselves to directing public opinion against the rising authoritarian character of the Narendra Modi regime and building a coalition to safeguard constitutional institutions and rights.
In a two-day convention in New Delhi on February 10 and 11, eminent academics, human rights activists, former civil servants, and media professionals ideated a step change in strategy needed to contain the Modi regime’s Hindutva experiments from further encroaching civil liberties and upending the foundational underpinning of India’s secular and egalitarian polity.
In the two-day Democratic Convention, the civil society coalition highlighted measures to tackle important issues such as unemployment, stem the tide of majoritarian communalism, safeguard constitutional rights and the autonomy of statutory institutions, strengthen the federal contract and promote equality and social justice. The coalition said it was committed to taking their message across State capitals and other important cities to sensitise the wider public that democracy is on their ballot.
CPI-M General-Secretary Sitaram Yechury addressing the convention | Photo Credit: By Special Arrangement
The Convention was addressed by historian Romila Thapar, academic Apoorvanand, activist Ganesh Devy, economist Jayati Ghosh, journalist Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Omar Abdullah, senior Congress leaders Salman Khurshid and Manish Tewari, CPI-M General-Secretary Sitaram Yechury, lawyer and MP Kapil Sibal, CPI-M Kashmir leader Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami, author Balveer Arora, among others.
Highlighting the onslaught on Indian democracy, the coalition has sought a review of the new Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and the Bharatiya Sakshya bill, which it said “allowed arrest on mere suspicion and expand the definition of terrorism to include even peaceful protests”. It has also pledged to work to build consensus for a complete overhaul of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA). The PMLA, it pointed out, was a tool of the Government to crack down on critics.
The convention’s convenor Radha Kumar underlined the need to build citizens’ networks ahead of the high-stake Lok Sabha elections and aid secular political forces. “Over the past decade, totalitarian trends have gathered force. This democracy convention is intended to push back, and offers all support to democratic parties that will do so,” she told Frontline.
At a time when the agrarian crisis is deepening in the country and the agrarian community is at the forefront of resistance against the Government’s crony capitalist policies, the convention expressed collective will to prioritise a struggle for legal guarantee of MSP and implementation of the Swaminathan commission recommendation for assured income.
Other resolutions of the Convention included restoring the autonomy of the Election Commission of India (ECI), the CBI, Enforcement Directorate, and seeking enactment of The Political Parties (Registration and Regulation of Affairs) Bill, drafted in 2011.
Romila Thapar at the convention. | Photo Credit: By Special Arrangement
Building on the general public scepticism on the role of the Election Commission, the civil society coalition said there is an urgent need for repeal of The Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023, and replacement of the government appointee on the selection committee with the Chief Justice of India. “The ECI should return to its opposition of electoral bonds,” it stressed. The delegates also highlighted the dangers which the Government’s call for “one nation, one election” posed to India’s federal contract.
Expressing concern about the steady undermining of federalism in the country, National Conference leader Omar Abdullah expressed disappointment with the Supreme Court’s ruling on petitions challenging the abrogation of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status. The Supreme Court judgement, he pointed out, has made other states vulnerable to New Delhi’s unilateral actions as it stamped that a centrally appointed Governor can be a legitimate alternative to an elected legislature. “The ‘calm’ in Kashmir is forced; this government is not interested in peacebuilding,” Abdullah said.
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