Given this background, the Foundation seeks to probe the inter-linkages between secularism, gender equality, human rights, peace and democracy in India in order to foster dialogue across conflict faultlines; and hence, to examine and re-validate the values of diversity and peaceful coexistence. The basic aim is to register the role of dialogue, cooperation and coexistence as indispensable instruments in resolving various conflicts and strengthening democracy in India.
The key programmatic areas include:
- To promote social harmony among conflict affected religious groups in India
- To promote peaceful coexistence between conflict affected ethnic communities in Northeast India
- To contribute to the political debates at the national level to ensure, as much as possible, that it reflects comprehensively new perspectives and assessments of the ground realities of the Northeast region
- To support exile Tibetan CSOs to effectively foster non-violent conflict resolution amongst the exile Tibetan community, newly arrived Tibetans and the host Indian community
Islam has been much maligned today as religion of war, not peace and compassion. The acts of terrorism on the part of some international terrorist groups who indulge in needless and wanton killing has further aggravated this image in the contemporary world. This articlediscusses the theory of war and peace in the Qur’an so that such misunderstandings could be clear. more»
In India it is secular democracy which shapes contour of Islam in contemporary period and even during medieval ages Sufis adopted Islam to Indian cultural milieu and those ulama who believed in Puritanism never succeeded despite their associating with ruling establishment. Thus we do not find extremist movements thriving in India at any period of time though Islam flourished in India abundantly.
more»COMMUNAL RIOTS DURING THE YEAR THAT WAS (2008) – - It must be said that police role was extremely partisan and the SP of the region was heard saying I have taught lesson to these Muslims and they will not be able to raise their head for next 10 years. These words were uttered before our investigator (convener of All India Secular Forum, Maharashtra unit) Suresh Khairnar. more»
How Secular is India Today – - We celebrated UPA's victory specially because it was supported by the left which is the only hope for Indian secularism. However, left has withdrawn its support on nuclear issue and once again we are feeling suffocated in the communally surcharged state of affairs in India. Today be it communal riots or terrorist attacks most of the newspapers and T.V. channels publish police version unabashedly as if it is ultimate truth. The situation is indeed very grave and unless secular forces unite and play determined role things can get far more worse. more»
What is relation between religion and conflict? Is conflict inevitable where religion has greater role in public life? Religion, howsoever important for society cannot be prior to it. Religion came to answer certain human and social needs. It is my considered opinion that religion in some form or the other would be needed even in most scientifically and technologically advanced society.
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Include Me Out - Muslims in India – In essence, the core concerns of the Indian Muslims seem to revolve around issues of security, identity, and equity. This has resulted in withdrawal, increased in-group cohesion, and subsequent ghettoization of the community. Moreover, the politicization of Hindu-Muslim relations exacerbates communalization and polarization of identities. Such a multitude of complex factors have immense implications for the integrative ethos of secular India. In fact, most of these issues are an integral part of the governance process and empowerment remains at the very core of assimilating the Indian Muslims. more»
Muslim-Hindu Dialogue: Issues-Queries-Arguments – This special publication on Hindu-Muslim relations is a compilation of a series of chat sessions. Such sessions, called added in Bangla, are essentially unstructured. But conversations are never really held at random to cover every subject on earth. They do cover certain topics, things that people think are important. The dangers arising from difference between various group or communities are nothing new in this world. But when we discuss how these differences are exploited politically in the interests of power lobbies, we limit our talk to the ideology and strategy of people and parties in power. Although the discussions were meant to be about both Hindus and Muslims, much more was said about the Muslim community. more»
The incessant conflict scenario in the Northeast seems to be far away from the “mainland” of India, not only from the geographical perspective, but also from the notion of how it is perceived. To engage in the region is a great challenge for the Central Government of India (GoI), as well as a necessity. Therefore, this paper aims at reviewing the Central Government involvement in the Northeast. However, due to the scope of the paper it will focus only on particular aspects of those broad and complex issues surrounding the North Eastern Region (NER) more»
Singing In The Dark Times – To the people of the Northeast their world is central to themselves; to ‘mainland India’ it is a borderland. Locating a region by placing oneself at a point one sees as the ‘centre’ is both arrogant and potentially dangerous. Many younger writers continue to grapple with these issues. Having grown up in the shadow of the gun, their desire to analyse the common people’s reaction to insurgency is as strong as ever. more»
Contested Space and Identity in the Indian Northeast, by the Academy of Third World Studies, Jamia Millia Islamia – The book, a result of a conference, is a kaleidoscope of richly textured and well thought-out positions, highlighting, in a structured way, political, legal, historical, philosophical, gendered and psycho-social aspects of the situation in the Northeast region of India. The papers are grouped in three main categories, namely: the role of the state and non-state actors in the politics of the Northeast; the shifting paradigms of identity and community in the borderlands; and the variable of perception in the calculation of peace. more»
Conflict in Northeast India: Issues, Causes and Concern – Unfortunately, the data and information on the region is not sufficiently analyzed and communicated between the region and the Centre, contributing to further misinformation, mismanagement and alienation. At another level, conflict in the region has been an all pervasive phenomena, and in its violent form, it has not only affected the territorial and political sovereignty of the Indian state, but also the life of the various people living in the region in incomprehensible and inexplicable terms. more»
Politics can only succeed when it is inclusive of all genders. Gender justice is an ambitious goal, one that the Heinrich Böll Foundation is pursuing together with many different allies worldwide. This publication gives an overview of their work. more»
Roadmap to 1325 – The UN resolution 1325 It could be a milestone for gender-equitable security policy. This volume contributes to filling the gap in knowledge about approaches both to gender-sensitive peace and security policy. Edited by the Gunda-Werner-Institut. more»
Women in Electoral Politics – Although women from almost 50% of the country’s population, their representation in the Parliament and State Legislatures has been depressingly low even after sixty years of Independence. So is the case with Maharashtra, one of the states in the forefront of Indian politics since the days of freedom struggle. The aim of the project is to study the status of political participation of women in Maharashtra and ascertain the reasons for the inability of the State’s women to enter the legislative Assembly in more numbers than at present. The inquiry also proposes to look into the present status of the All Women parties that were launched earlier. The study also touches on the socio-economic background of some of the women who could make it to the Assembly in the past and what criteria are followed by the political parties in selecting their women candidates. more»
The role of police in democratic society is very different from that of police in colonial society. However, it is 61 years now that India became independent and there is no change in the role of police a wee bit. Today our police have become even more colonial in its attitude. The British colonial rulers had enacted the police an act in 1861 to use the police for suppression of people’s movement and to terrorize colonized people. Our police too is terrorizing innocent people fighting for their rights. more»
Democracy, Elections and Minorities in India – The General elections in India are about to take place within three months and all political parties are readying themselves to draw up their winning strategies. The Congress has not been able to rehabilitate itself again in the eyes of the Muslims. The election calculus shows that the BJP would find it extremely difficult to increase its present tally in Parliament. 'The Terror Card' did not pay even immediately after the Mumbai attacks in November; and the BJP lost the election in Delhi. Thus 'terror card' no longer arouses emotions to be electorally exploited. more»
Left-of-Left: The Link Between Revolutionary and Mainstream Politics – Ever since its emergence, the Marxist-Leninist-Maoist brand of revolutionary politics has retained what can be described as a “sibling relationship” with India’s mainstream politics. India’s Communist movement has at once participated in parliamentary politics and experimented with revolution since the founding of the Communist Party of India (CPI) in the 1920s. Its first experiment with revolutionary politics was in Telangana in the 1940s. This was followed soon after by participation in the first general election. more»
Election Results, New Government and its Tasks – - The election results of the Loksabha came as a surprise to all including the congress itself. The secularists were holding their breath. What is important to note this time is that percentage of vote got by the congress and that by BJP is much more decisive: ten per cent. There is one good lesson for all parties, regional or national. It does not pay to field candidates on the basis of caste, sub-caste and communities as all parties do. Dr Asghar Ali Engineer more»
Federal Debate in Jammu and Kashmir: What the Election boycatt can teach us – The election results in Jammu and Kashmir seem to have been the long awaited good news to shake off a bad year. The voter turnout in J&K hovered around 62%, slightly higher than the national average, and J&K has a new energetic Chief Minister, the youngest in India. If the editorials of the national English language print media are to be believed, the elections were a ‘triumph of democracy’ and validated ‘mainstream politics as the most effective mediator in finding solutions’. more»
Gujarat Elections and Aftermath –
Gujarat carnage was unparalleled in the history of India and it will continue to be discussed for a long time to come. Like partition of our country it cannot be easily forgotten. Any election in Gujarat will draw into discussion Gujarat carnage. Modi, I maintain, could not have won 2002 election without organizing that carnage, nor the 2007 election could he have won without it.
more»Muslim Party Should or Should Not Be – These days some Muslim leaders are throwing up the idea of forming a separate Muslim party. Recently some leaders from Maharashtra got together and said Muslims should not vote for Congress-NCP Alliance nor for Shiv Sena-BJP and since there is no third alternative hence a hurried conclusion was drawn to set up a separate Muslim party. Will it be a wise move to form a separate party? It has given rise to this debate. more»
Terrorism, Police and Minorities – The police as such has strong minority bias right from the dawn of freedom. Our freedom came at the cost of partition and partition further increased Hindu-Muslim divide and the police could not remain unaffected by communalization of society. To what extent the police has been affected by the communal virus became abundantly evident during its conduct in investigating terror attacks. What happened in Delhi in Batla House on 21st September is indeed hair raising story of police prejudice against Muslims. more»
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