RAJSAMAND: A month after the brutal murder of labourer from
West Bengal Afrazul in Rajsamand, activists stepped forward to frame a citizen council that would work to stop 'hate violence' and promote harmony. It is the first of its kind initiative which was launched in
Rajsamand on Saturday.
Social activists, including Aruna Roy, Harsh Mander, Sateesh Deshpande, Apoorvanand and many others, called out people to join hands for the cause of social solidarity, tolerance and inclusiveness. Volunteers from Assam, Gujarat, Maharashtra,
Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar,
Jharkhand and New Delhi participated in the event and expressed willingness to join the Council.
In a dialogue organized by the Mazdoor Kissaan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS) at Gandhi Seva Sadan in Rajsamand, the declaration was made to constitute 'Insaniyat and Aman Citizen Council' that would have committees across the country in the coming months. There would be a national working executive of the council while its committees would be constituted at regional levels.
"In the first phase, we hope to have citizens' committees in 150 districts across selected states including Rajasthan, Assam, Jharkhand, Haryana, Gujarat etc," said Harsh Mander, an activist associated with various movements in the country.
"There would be three main functions of the committees. First, it would have a Rapid Action and Response team that would keep a tab of hate violence incidents in their respective areas. The team would go to the spot on such report and do the fact finding and file a report to the authorities as well as the civil society," said Nikhil Dey, a member of the MKSS.
The committees would make suggestions so as to save the families suffering isolation and continue follow up to ensure authorities do not skip their duties. Secondly, the committees would organize activities such as film festivals, dialogues, fairs etc to sensitize people against communal hatred and nurture mutual empathy. 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
