Discourse on different dimensions of society

Manthan Samvaad 2017 got off to a judicial start with Justice J Chelameswar Rao (Supreme Court judge) talking about the concept of ‘Rule of law’ and its need especially in a diverse country like India. According to Justice Chelameswar Rao, there are many important legislations in the country to bring in the principle of equality and fair play to every citizen.

It’s only that the implementation of these laws is not properly done. He gave a very simple example of a situation, wherein the erstwhile State government did not know how to procure ‘Vaccination’ during the visit Bill Clinton, former President of United States of America.

Former Union minister Yashwant Sinha while speaking on ‘Kashmir Now and Way Forward’ emphasised the need for the Union Government to have a dialogue with Kashmiri people. According to him, there was no need to wait for any dialogue to start with Pakistan, and it was more important to initiate an atmosphere of harmony within the people of Kashmir.

He felt that time and again, Kashmiris have been let down by the different political decisions by successive governments and have felt alienated in their own land. He felt that every Kashmiri had a right to always compare and know if similar situations in other parts of the country were handled by the Army or other forces in such harsh manner.

Replying to audience questions, he also felt that there was every need to withdraw Army from the city and village areas to their core competency areas of guarding the borders. He also felt that there was a big need to ensure that all displaced Kashmiri Hindu Pandits get a fair chance to return to their homeland.

It was Sucheta Mahajan, history professor, JNU, Delhi who spoke next on ‘The Making and Unmaking of a Nation’. According to her, there was no fear of disintegration of the country as the people of India understand the present atmosphere and the attempts being made to create an atmosphere of fear and suppression of dissent. She said that the diversity of the country was in itself the greatest strength to hold it together.

Nikhil Dey, activist, spoke on the ‘Transparency to Accountability in India’s Democratic State’ and emphasised the need for better implementation of the RTI Act, which has more than 80 lakh applications coming in every year. He expressed concern about RTI activists facing threat and also losing lives in their quest for truth and justice.

Nitin Pai, the founder of Takshashila Institution emphasised the need to understand the growing problem of viral fake news on the internet and the need to always know the truth and keep the mind without fear.

Lyricist and stand-up comedian Varun Grover stressed the need to ‘question’. He felt that the country has come to a stage where people are forgetting to question the need for following many new sub legislations which could be an infringement of their basic rights.

He wondered why each and everything in life has to get linked to an ‘Adhaar card’. He even wondered if a private security guard in a public space really knew how to handle a ‘bomb’, if detected. Frisking of everyone had become more of a routine than having a true purpose.

Ravish Kumar, well-known journalist felt that there was an important responsibility to eliminate fake news and morphed photographs on social media with the intention to create disharmony. Speaking on the topic ‘Gandhi and the Dimensions of Truth’, he looked forward to social reforms as a means to solve the problems of the youth.

By Jaywant Naidu