"Inclusiveness in Democracy" public talk at Koyana Hostel, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Mehrauli Road > 9:30pm on 20th October 2015

Time : 9:30 pm Add to Calendar 20/10/2015 21:30 20/10/2015 23:00 Asia/Kolkata "Inclusiveness in Democracy" public talk Event Page : http://www.delhievents.com/2015/10/inclusiveness-in-democracy-public-talk.html Koyana Hostel, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Mehrauli Road, New Delhi - 110067 DD/MM/YYYY

Entry : Free (Seating on First-Come First-Served Basis)

Venue : Koyana Hostel, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Mehrauli Road, New Delhi - 110067

Venue Info : www.jnu.ac.in | Koyana Map
Nearest Metro Stations - 'Hauz Khas(Yellow Line)' &  'Delhi Aerocity(Orange Line)'

Event Description : "Inclusiveness in Democracy" public talk. 

Speakers: Chief Justice (Retd.) Rajinder Sachar, Dr. Amir Ali, CPS, JNU Dr. Hilal Ahmed, CSDS, JNU

Intro:
Hashimpura, Moradabad, Bhagalpur, Nellie, Bombay, Ayodhya, Gujarat and Muzaffarnagar are just a few names of places which have become symbols of the ‘exclusion’ of the Muslim community from the social life of the ‘largest democracy of the world’. They are the loci of massacres involving suspension of law and order, often deliberate, causing successive stages of victimisation. But the spectacle of state-engineered massacres and the mobilisation of a religious majority are only symptoms of a deep malaise of institutionalized discrimination against religious minorities, everyday in every walk of life. Democracy as a system of popular governance was founded on the value of ‘non-discrimination’ on the basis of class, race, gender and religion. Justice in democracy seeks not only the removal of victimhood of the excluded and marginalised, but also their recognition as citizens with equal rights to identity, security and affirmative policies. 

The Sachar Committee Report detailed the discrimination faced by Muslims on several fronts such as education and literacy, housing and employment, poverty, and access to credit. It clearly reveals that socio-religious minorities, primarily Muslims, face disadvantage due to discrimination that has led to their under-representation in educational institutions, politics, government and administration. Nothing, however, has been done to mitigate these issues. Instead, the ‘Muslim Question’ which confronts the state is always the one in which the Muslim man is seen as a potential terror threat, demonstrated by the shockingly high levels of Muslim under-trials, and the perpetual stereotyping of the Muslim woman as a being constituted by her community and lacking agency. The ‘Muslim Question’ in India is a favourite trope for endless debates on secularism for the left and ‘progressive’ forces, and the bogey of terrorism and anti-national activities for the right. Between the charade of the left and the hysteria of the right, voices for the redressal of everyday forms of seemingly insignificant prejudices against Muslims are drowned out.

The true test for democracy does not always lie in how best it prevents its minorities from becoming victims of hate-based crimes. Instead, it lies in how best it translates the constitutional status of minorities as citizens into active policies for their induction into what is conventionally called the ‘mainstream’. Assimilationist attitudes such as those of the Sangh Parivar will have to be defeated not by identifying Muslims through the category of religion alone. This does not imply the erasure of religious identity; it calls for a body politic in which minorities are not bereft of the inclusive policies of the state simply on grounds of their religious belief, in which a Muslim life counts more than her vote.

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