Sunday, Feb 16, 2003
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Kerala
By Our Special Correspondent
Mr. Akhtar also made a passionate appeal to the fragmented secular groups to build bridges among themselves to launch joint struggles to defeat the fundamentalist elements since, in his view, their presence had already caused an erosion of civil liberties. The poet said the erosion of secular values on account of the growing strength of communal elements was evident in the inability of voluntary agencies and even newspapers to raise relief funds for victims of Gujarat riots. The sad fact was that many were too scared to undertake such philanthropic activities. Mr. Akhtar said that in an atmosphere surcharged with fundamentalist sentiments, people tended to lose the courage needed to help the helpless and the distressed. This he had told a gathering of Rotarians in Mumbai recently. ``A Muslim in India enjoys more liberty than any Muslim in Pakistan. But the rise of fundamentalism here also would lead to loss of civil liberties as had happened in Pakistan. That is why it is imperative for all those who do not want India to be a Pakistan to fight the fundamentalist forces,'' Mr. Akhtar said. He remarked that secular groups which now operated in isolation had to come together for joint action since communal forces had emerged as an organised force and had been relentlessly trying to push out secularism from the national agenda. The fundamentalists had already been able to divert public attention from the country's real problems like infant mortality, malnutrition, large-scale unemployment and poverty. Instead, non-issues were being given top priority. He said the Left forces, especially the youth, should launch a war against the misinformation campaign let loose by communal elements and that new communication strategies had to be developed for that purpose. Mr. Akthar said the Congress brand of secularism had become outdated and should be discarded as it always pampered fundamentalists. ``The BJP is an extension of the Congress. Anyone who does not want the RSS and the BJP to come to power should not support the Congress either,'' he said. Mr. Akthar said it was meaningless to differentiate between majority communalism and minority communalism and added that all forms of communalism were abhorrent. The former Chief Minister, E.K. Nayanar, also addressed the delegates.
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