Insaniyat and Aman Citizens’ Committee formed to ensure peace and harmony in Rajsamand
January 6, 2018, Rajsamand, Rajasthan
After a month of the horrific murder of Afrazul by Shambhu Lal Regar on December 6th in Rajsamand of Rajasthan, prominent citizens from Rajasthan, Delhi and other parts of India congregated at the Gandhi Seva Sadan today to form the Rajsamand Insaniyat and Aman Citizens’ Committee. The committee pledged to ensure peace and harmony in the district and also to make sure that the basic humanitarian values will be protected under all circumstances.
Apart from the eminent citizens of Rajsamand, the event saw participation of eminent writer and administrator Ashok Vajpeyi, Prof. Apoorvanand, ex-IAS and peace activist Harsh Mander, leading socio-political activist Aruna Roy, and many others.
Eminent Hindi poet Ashok Vajpeyi said that this event is significant not only for Rajsamand but for the entire country because at a time when the existing democratic structures are failing us it is the ordinary people who have to come forward and take the task of ensuring peace and harmony in our society in their hands. He said that if we remain silent in times like these then we would also in a sense be complicit in spreading hatred and violence. He said that eventually people must understand that fighting for the rights of their fellow humans irrespective of caste, religion, gender or nationality must be their first priority.
It is worth noting that the formation of this committee comes in the wake of a nation-wide Karwan-e-Mohabbat which began from Noakhali in Assam and travelled across several states spreading the message of peace, harmony and brotherhood at more than 55 locations where crimes of hatred and violence have taken place in the recent past. Harsh Mander who anchored the Karwan-e-Mohabbat expressed his concern over the increasing crimes of hatred and violence and said that the formation of this committee in Rajsamand is actually a victory of love and hope over hatred and violence.
Noted thinker and Professor Apoorvanand said that people have been migrating to places other than their homelands since time immemorial and they migrate on the basis of a trust in humanity and tolerance of the people (of the places) where they migrate. He said that this basic trust in ‘insaniyat’ seems to be eroding slowly and we must ensure that those who are intoxicated with hatred and violence must be controlled and the powers-that-be who are sheltering such vested interests are removed from their positions. He said that those who look at love as a conspiracy must be defeated. He said that after the incident of 6th of December in Rajsamand a lot of muslims have fled the city and it is the duty of the residents of Rajsamand to form a committee and visit slain Afrazul’s village and assure the residents that such treatment will never be meted out to anyone ever on their soil.
Eminent Activist Aruna Roy emphasised upon the need to understand that the composite culture of India can not even exist if efforts at erasing parts of our language, literature and heritage are not nipped in the bud. She said that the constitutional values on which our nation was formed must be protected and no powers should be allowed to meddle with these values. She also said that committees like these must be formed across all the districts of Rajasthan and in fact across the entire country.
Dr. Mahendra Karnawat of Gandhi Seva Sadan emphasised upon the need to understand that our society must follow the path of non-violence and Gandhi’s path is a path of hope for us in this. He said that differences can and will always exist in a society but our tradition of dialogue and respectful disagreement must be protected and violence of all kind must be abandoned.
Several educationists, writers, journalists and activists of Rajsamand also participated in this event and expressed their solidarity and commitment to make this effort successful.
For more information, contact: Nikhil Dey – 9910421260. Mukesh – 9468862200
Note: The idea of the Insaniyat and Aman Citizens Committees (IACC) is to draw upon civic leadership in every district, who will come together to pledge that they will not allow violence and identity based attacks on individuals or communities, and will actively negate the politics of hate. The effort will be to build a network of such Councils across the country, that will take responsibility for ensuring that identity based violence and attacks do not take place. And if some attack does take place, these Councils may prevent the spread of such divisive, intolerant and pernicious emotions, that will further undermine the plurality and tolerance, so essential to the survival of our society and our country.
The Insaaniyat and Aman Citizens Committees will also actively try to involve youth and all segments of civic society and citizens groups, to ensure that an atmosphere of tolerance, mutual respect and understanding is built within the district and within the communities living there.
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