Clamour for ban on Sanatan Sanstha

NT NETWORK

PANAJI

Noted writers,  thinkers and social activists  on Wednesday asked the state government to ban the Goa-based Hindu organisation Sanatan Sanstha and other bodies which share and champion the ideology of the Sanstha.

Around 100 writers, novelists, social activists and artists gathered in the city garden to express solidarity towards  noted Konkani writer Damodar Mauzo, who  has been  in the news over the alleged threat to his life from right-wing elements.

The protest meeting  was organised by the Dakshinayan Abhiyan, an all-India movement of writers and rationalists for freedom of expression.

The Abhiyan expressed its disappointment over government’s  inaction in protecting the rights of authors and rationalists.

Addressing the gathering, social activist Dr Oscar Rebello said  that secularism will thrive if Hindus push back  the madness that has gripped the  country.

“We will surely get back to its origin; how Mahatma Gandhi wanted the nation to be – a united India without discrimination between religious communities,” he said.

“In a civilisation, society of the country remains secular, liberal and progressive when the majority community of that country wants so…  our nation is secular because Hindus are secular. It would actually be a mistake to think that secularism is the prerogative of minority or a suppressed community,” he observed.

“We, Christian or the Muslim do not have a choice in this country to be communal or secular, and we have to be secular for survival. But Hindus have a choice…  99 per cent of Hindus of this country are secular and are with Mauzo and his ideology,” Rebello emphasised.

Speaking at the meeting, Konkani writer N Shivdas said  the  threat from Hindu fanatics is not only to Mauzo but  to  everybody.

Condemning the “acts” of Sanatan Sanstha as anti-constitutional, he sought a ban on the organisation so that it would not spread hatred in Goa any further.

“Hindus don’t require any guardian or sanstha to protect them. Hinduism is a way of life and not a religion. Nobody can stop us from being secular in this country,” he thundered.

Noted Konkani writer Datta Naik said that Sanatan Sanstha wants to kill the thoughts of secularism and equality.

“They want to kill secular thinking by attacking us. Goa is known for its peaceful co-existence with communal harmony…  we don’t want such institutions which need to be immediately banned,” he added.

Mauzo said the threat is not only to his life but also to the lives of  all  progressive authors and rational thinkers.

“The time has come now to show our unity to fight  such forces,” he said.

There has been an increase in threats, attacks, and killings of progressive writers, poets and thinkers,  who oppose religious bigotry and supports cultural diversity and multiculturism, he said adding  that the onslaught is anti-constitutional and must be stopped.

“The role of government is not limited to give police protection.  The state government must reach a conclusion that Sanatan Sanstha  is liable to be banned. There must be a probe to investigate the mastermind behind the conspiracy to kill me,” the 74-year-old Konkani novelist said.

Mauzo  recalled that the state government did not act  strongly against the Sanstha in the 2009 Margao blast case.

“Had the government been tough  against the organisation at that time then the organisation would not have dared today to threaten the rights of the authors and rational thinkers,” the author stated.