iNDICA NEWS BUREAU
A host of big names from India will participate in a two-day virtual conference, ReclaimingIndia@73, which will address topics based on “defending democratic values and countering Hindu nationalism and casteism in both India and the United States.”
Some of the people attending the conference, to be held October 3 and 4, are former vice president of India Mohammad Hamid Ansari; Rajmohan Gandhi, historian and a grandson of Mahatma Gandhi; Rev Dr. William Barber, co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign; Atishi Marlena, Delhi state legislator from the Aam Admi Party; and Congress party leader Shashi Tharoor.
Other speakers include historian Ramachandra Guha, activist-lawyer Prashant Bhushan, lawyer Indira Jaising, writer Aatish Taseer, and other leading activists, political leaders, and thinkers.
“Lately, India has been witnessing a lot of religious-based violence across the country. The growing Hindu-centric values have been affecting the core nationalistic virtue of the country,” the organizers of the event said in a press note.
The core founding members of Reclaiming India Alliance are Hindus for Human Rights (HfHR), Global Indian Progressive Alliance (GIPA), Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC), Students Against Hindutva Ideology (SAHI), and India Civil Watch International (ICWI).
“We are reclaiming India from the anti-intellectualism that we have now, from populism, from the majoritarian shift in political India that we have seen particularly since 2014,” Manish Madan, the founder of GIPA and one of the conference’s primary organizers, was quoted as saying.
“And then we reclaim it to where it belonged and where it should go forward as a democratic, plural, and as a progressive country.”
This two-day global dialogue on Reclaiming India will cover pressing immediate issues like curtailing free speech and civil liberties, casteism, racism, and other pertinent topics to the US and India.
Plenary sessions include conversations between Rajmohan Gandhi and Rev Barber.
The dialogues in this event will circle the progression of India in a democratic background concerning the rest of the world, especially the US.
The implications of the upcoming American election results in India, threats to minority rights and equality under the law, freedom of religion, the right to dissent, independence of the judiciary, and press freedom will also be discussed.
A panel of Indian, Indian American students and youth will also be talking about their important role in shaping the future of our two democracies.
Speakers will also draw parallels between the ongoing struggle of India’s Dalit community with the Black Lives Matter movement and examine the similarities between Hindutva nationalism in India and white nationalism in the West.
You can view the schedule of the event here: https://reclaimingindia.org/opening-ceremony/
To register for the event, click: http://Tinyurl.com/reclaimingindia73
